This is one of the more interesting sailplanes – after all, it doesn’t need to be towed up to the sky before it can “fly”, but will take things into its own wings thanks to a retractable jet engine which is located right behind the cockpit. This nifty little engineering design allows the sailplane to take off like a conventional aircraft, where it will also enable the pilor to gain a whole lot more altitude if required while in mid-air. Desert Aerospace is currently working on and testing a hybrid sailplane that relies on a 45 pound jet engine which can pump out 240 pounds of thrust. No idea on how much the final price point will be, and there is also the hurdle of getting the FAA to approve of this technology.
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